Using Custom Fields & Forms

Custom Forms in Dash give you the ability to customize your registration processes. By defining Custom Fields and using them in Custom Forms, you can ask questions and gather information at registration time for any customer, program or event. In the following sections, this article:

Shows you how to use the Dash Form Builder and Field Editor,

Discusses how to set up custom registration forms for different types of registration, and

Creating Custom Forms with the Form Builder

Using the Dash Form Builder and Field Editor

Use the Dash Form Builder to create custom forms. To get to the Form Builder, go to Settings, then to the Customer category, and then select Custom Forms. This will bring up the Form Builder page below.

Creating and Managing Custom Fields

To create new custom fields or edit existing custom fields, click on Fields from the Form Builder. This will take you to the Manage Custom Fields page shown below. At the top of this page you'll see a "+" symbol to create new fields. At the bottom of the page is a list of existing, available fields. To edit or delete a given field, click on the pencil or the trash can icon.

When creating a new field, first select your field type, give it a label and then define the rest of your field depending on its type and what its purpose is, then press Create Field. Once you Save a field, it is added to the list of Available Fields and can be used in any form.

Building Custom Forms from Custom Fields

To create a form:

Go to the Custom Form page.

Click on "+" to Create a New Form.

Enter a name, then click Save new form.

Click the "add field" button to view the complete list of Fields to choose from. Select the field you want to add to the Form and click the "Add Field" button. This process will need to be repeated for each field.

Organize the order of fields in your form by dragging fields up or down.

Custom Field Quick Reference

Field Types

The following field types are supported:

Autocomplete – A single-line text field that displays a list of suggested answer completions as the user types. This field type is a good option when a Dropdown field would be too big to be useful. This typically occurs when you have more than about 30 possible answers, but you still want to provide guidance and not depend on a free form Text field.

Checkbox – A binary on/off field. Use this for yes/no questions.

Date – A date provided in mm/dd/yyyy format.

Time – A time provided in hh:mm am format.

Date & Time – A combination of time and date provided in mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm am format when the customer is filling out the form. Treat this as a time stamp.

Dropdown - A field that contains one or more of the options in a user-defined list of options. When clicked on, this field displays the list of options for the user to select. The user can select multiple options by holding down the Control key while selecting. The list of allowable values is defined when the dropdown field is created.

Paragraph – A multi-line text field. Choose the number of rows with the Rows parameter to determine how large an area will be displayed for entry.

Text – A single-line free form text field that allows up to 255 characters.

Field Type Parameters

Description – A text field to use to describe or document a field internally. This field is not displayed to form users.

Question – A question label for a field. This label is typically the question itself, e.g., “What is the name of your school?” or better yet a short way to ask your question, e.g. just "School". Avoid using questions that are too wordy. The Question label appears above each field when fields are displayed on a custom form.

Rows – A number indicating the size of a Paragraph field when displayed. The size is the number of rows of text displayed. Slide the bar to adjust the box to the size desired.

Setting Up Custom Registration Forms

Setting Up a Custom Form for Program Registration

To use a form for program registration, first select the program season that you want to work with. Next, add the custom registration form that you want to display at the season, or the level/league maintenance page. You can test the form out by adding a customer to a roster in Dash or Dash Online.

Setting Up a Custom Form for Event Registration

To use a form for event registration, first select the event type you want to work with. Next, add the custom registration form that you want to display at event registration time. You can test the form out by adding a customer to an event in Dash.

Setting Up the Customer Profile Form for Customer Registration (Adult and Child)

The custom form named Adult and Child Profile are special. All fields added to these custom forms will show up on each customer's profile page. All custom field values can be changed and saved by editing the customer's profile. Note that fields designated as “Required” are also required on the Customer Profile page when creating new customer accounts.

Note: The custom form for the Customer Profile pages are not associated with any type of season, level or program registration. Season or level registration custom forms for programs such as camps, classes and teams must be created separately.

Setting Up the Online Registration Form for Dash Online Registration

Besides the custom form for the Customer Profile, another special built-in custom form exists called Online Registration. Any questions you add to this form will be asked when a customer creates a brand new Dash Online account. The custom fields and values from this form will appear on each customer’s profile page.

Note: The Online Registration custom form for Dash Online registration is not associated with any type of season, level or program registration. Season or level custom registration forms for programs such as camps, classes and teams must be created separately.

Demo: Using Custom Form Data Collected at Team Registration

Seeing an example of custom form usage is one of the best ways to understand how to use them. So, in the example below, we take you through the process of creating and using custom forms to collect team data that is used later in the Dash Team Builder. Here are the steps in that process:

Create custom question fields,

Group the question fields into a registration form

Attach the registration form to the selected league season,

Test the registration form in Dash Online,

Wait for players to respond to the custom form at registration, and

Use the data you've gathered about the players in the given season.

Step 1: Create Custom Field Questions

Navigate to the Custom Fields management page by clicking Settings and selecting Custom Forms under the Customers section. This takes you to the Form Builder. In the Form Builder, go to Fields and click the "+" button to create a new field.

Now we’ll create a couple of custom questions that we’d like customers to answer when they register for a season. Select a Field Type, then define your questions as succinctly as possible. If you would like to make a given question required at the time of registration, click on Required. You can also choose to have a field to be "internal" only. This will mean that this question will not appear to the customer either on Dash online or on the Booking Contract.

A list of previously created questions is shown on the Custom Forms management page when you press the Fields option on the left hand side. You have the option to edit or de-activate any previously created questions by clicking on the Edit or Review icons (i.e. the pencil or the trash icon) under the tools column.

Step 2: Group Question Fields into a Registration Form

Now let’s use the questions created in the last step. Go back to the Form Builder.

Click on New Form and enter a name for your custom form in the box that appears. Then click on the "add field" button. A list of existing fields will appear to select from. You will need to select each field one by one. If you have not created your field yet, click the "Create new field" button.

For example, if you want to ask every new adult customer who signs up through Dash Online how they heard about your program or organization, make it a required field and associate it with the Online Registration form. This question and answer will automatically appear on the Customer Profile page for each adult customer (since children cannot sign up online).

The Customer Profile form is special, and cannot be renamed or deleted. Any fields you add to the Customer Profile custom form will show up on the Dash Customer Profile, where your front desk staff can enter data when they register or edit customer profile information.

Warning! The Customer Profile form is a global form that applies to all customers! If the questions and field on your form are really for a specific program, then instead create a registration form for the specific program and attach it at the season level.

If you want these same questions to be asked during the initial Dash Online registration, then add these same fields to the Online Registration form.

Any questions you add to the Online Registration form are asked when a customer creates a new Dash Online account. Question and answers from this form will appear on the customer’s profile page, so that staff have this information when working in person with the customer.

Step 3: Attach a Custom Form to a Season Registration

Navigate to the Seasons page by clicking Seasons under Programs. Find the Season you are working with or click New Season if you are starting from scratch.

Now let's use one of our new forms to start collecting customer data. You can add a form to a new season when you create it, or you can add a form to an existing season. Pick one of your upcoming seasons and click on edit. Go to the field labeled Registration Form. Here you will see a list of custom registration forms, including the form you created in the previous step. Select the form that contains the questions you want to ask people who are registering for this season and then click on Save Season.

Step 4: Test the Registration Form in Dash Online

Go to your Dash Online website and do a test registration for your season to be sure everything looks right. You don't need to complete the registration, just follow the steps to register for the season and quit before you complete the Shopping Cart step. You should see your custom registration questions at the registration step.

Step 5: Wait for Custom Form Responses at Registration

In the real world you must wait until registration begins before you can start using any data. In this example, for instance, you would have to wait until after registration is over before you could place all players on teams with the Team Builder.

Step 6: Use Custom Form Entry Data

Go to Reports and select All Reports. Under Programs choose Custom Registrations.

There are several ways to use your new data. First off, let's just take a look at all the answers your customers have given. If no-one has answered yet, you may want to do a test registration. Go to the Custom Registration Report, select a season, and press Search. The name of the Custom Registration Form will be shown if one exists, otherwise you’ll get an error message. Optionally, you may select a level or team to filter your data. Click Open in Excel to save the data to your computer as a spreadsheet, allowing you full manipulation of the data.

Note: Data is laid out as one row per customer per question and answer. To change an answer appearing on this report, click on the answer until it changes color. The form will autosave. Answers cannot be deleted.

Navigate to any customer profile. If you have added a custom form to a season when using the Team Builder, click on Fields to show them in your customer information area.